Good morning and welcome to the New Year! The husband and I struggled to stay up until midnight. We saw the ball drop, we gave one another a passionate kiss, and then we immediately went to bed. Staying up too late would simply ruin our ability to get to brunch timely. I don’t like waiting for a table. One must have their priorities straight.
Looking back to this year, I think it was rather fun. We did some cool stuff. For example, I got to meet Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional and see him perform in a private concert. (You can read more here.)
We renovated our guest room. It is fabulous and I love just relaxing in there. (You can read more here.)
I got an opportunity to go to the Emily Giffin book signing for All We Ever Wanted. I even got a photo!
Most recently, the husband and I celebrated five years of marriage. We celebrated by traveling to San Francisco. It was an amazing trip. This photo is a bit grainy as it was taken on my phone at dusk. I loved that trip and I love this man even more!
So it is a new year. It is that time that we customarily start thinking about how we would like to better ourselves for the new year. Last year I set a goal for myself to live simply. (You can read that post here.) It turned out to be life changing. It was actually a New Years resolution I could achieve.
My goal was to live my values, eat good food, buy less, purge things that no longer have value to me, strengthen my body, and volunteer more. Here is how it went:
Live my values – I took a hard look at how my work life was progressing. I was working long days and finding it difficult to relax once I got home. This meant it was time for a change. I am proud to say that I have made a career change and I couldn’t be happier.
Eat good food – The husband and I enjoyed the Whole30 diet about a year ago. We were able to eat great food without calorie counting or food measuring. All we really had to do was stay away from specific foods. This year we took it to another level by trying veganism. We went vegan for about five months. We had a heart to heart about our diet and what it meant to us. We decided it was a bit too strict. We added a few items such as dairy and some fish back into our diet. We are considering ourselves pescetarian. I feel good about what I am putting in my body, something I haven’t felt before.
Buy less – This was a tough one at the beginning. Trips to Target have been the most difficult. Everything in that store is fabulous! What helped was making lists of what I needed and sticking to it.
Purge things that no longer have value to me – I think this was more difficult than buying less. I don’t know why I have a tough time letting go of items that I buy. I have had to go slowly room by room and then drawer by drawer. Facing only a few items at a time helped me cope with the process. My house now has more space for the items I really like. I am not done and know that this will be a long-term project, but I am happy with the progress that has been made.
Strengthen my body – The husband and I joined a really amazing gym. We love it. We call it the mall gym because of how big it is. The downside is that it was really close to the job I no longer have. It has been about five weeks and we have yet to come up with a new plan for how to get there.
Volunteer more – I met with a couple of non-profits in my area. I am interested in teaching financial skills to those interested in learning. Unfortunately, we were never able to coordinate. Part of the issue was I was always working. I am hoping to be able to change this in 2019.
What is my plan for 2019? Honestly, I just want to keep going with the live simply mantra. I want to incorporate more yoga and mediation. I want to make time to cook, read, and travel. I don’t have any plans for becoming a completely different person or changing everything about myself. Instead, I am going to do a little tweaking.
What is your New Years resolution?
